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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Hanosh

DATE TYPED 2/7/05

HJR 1

SHORT TITLE Lieutenant Governor Appointment, CA

SB

ANALYST Hadwiger

APPROPRIATION

(in $000s)

Appropriation Contained Estimated Additional Impact Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY05

FY06

FY05

FY06

None

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Office of the Attorney General (AG)

Office of the Governor

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Joint Resolution 1 would amend the Constitution to provide that, when a vacancy in the

Lieutenant Governor position occurs, the governor would appoint a replacement who must be

confirmed by a majority vote of both houses of the legislature.

This amendment would be submitted for voter approval at the next general election or any spe-

cial election prior to that date.

Significant Issues

Currently, there is no provision in the New Mexico Constitution setting out a process for replac-

ing a lieutenant governor who dies, leaves office, or succeeds to the governorship in the middle

of a term. HJR1 would address this gap.

House Joint Resolution 1 -- Page 2

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

The Office of the Governor indicated that, under Article IV, Section 42 of the Constitution, the

Senate is vested with the authority to confirm gubernatorial appointments. No constitutional ba-

sis has been identified to give the House such authority. Therefore, it appears that any language

regarding confirmation of a newly appointed Lieutenant Governor could only include confirma-

tion before the Senate.

ALTERNATIVES

According to the Office of the Governor, although an amendment is necessary to address the gap

in succession if a Lieutenant Governor leaves office before the end of a term, the amendment

should occur in Article V, Section 7 regarding the succession to governorship. Another sentence

could be added to this provision addressing this particular scenario whereby the new Governor

(former Lieutenant Governor) appoints the successor for the Lieutenant Governor position. The

title of Article V, Section 7 would then address succession to governorship and lieutenant gover-

norship.

DH/njw